Palo Alto

Now a provocative and impressive (Variety) film from director Gia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppolas granddaughter)starring Emma Roberts, James Franco, Nat Wolff, and Val Kilmerthe fiction debut from James Franco that Vogue called compelling and gutsy.James Francos story collection traces the lives of a group of teenagers as they experiment with vices of all kinds, struggle with their families and one another, and succumb to self-destructive, often heartless nihilism. In Lockheed a young womans summerspent working a dull internshipis suddenly upended by a spectacular incident of violence at a house party. In American History a high school freshman attempts to impress a girl with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner during a classroom skitonly to have his feigned bigotry avenged. In I Could Kill Someone, a lonely teenager buys a gun with the aim of killing his high school tormentor, but begins to wonder about his bullys own inner life. These spare and riveting (O, The Oprah Magazine) stories are a compelling portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth. Palo Alto is, a collection of beautifully written stories (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) that capture with perfect pitch the impossible exhilaration, the inevitable downbeatness, and the pure confusion of being an adolescent (Elle). Features a bonus essay by James Franco on Gia Coppola's film adaptation.